6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

That was a lie. I had zero fucking clue what I was going to do about my inheritance issue.

My grandmother left me a fortune in money that was to be paid out in a trust until next year, when I reached the age of thirty-five. At that time, I’d get the rest in a lump sum. The fact that his mother had split up her money between her grandchildren, claiming her no-good children had enough money of their own, had always chapped his ass, as well as the fact that he couldn’t tell me how to spend it.

The one thing he managed to do was convince my grandmother that I needed to be settled before the money came to me in full. Apparently, their definition of settled was married with at least one child. So I had exactly fifteen months to find a girl I wanted to be tied to for the rest of my life and get her pregnant. Great.

The fact that my father, who’d been a total womanizer who’d practically driven my mother away, would give a shit about family life was fucking laughable.

“Have you even looked into finding work?”

“I am working. I’m head deep on building my photography.”

My father thought if I didn’t work, I’d end up in trouble or running off like my oldest brother, Daniel. No one had heard from him in months. I wasn’t that close to him, though; not like I was with my sister, Megan.

“A man needs a job. A real job, not a hobby like that star photography shit you’re into.” That ‘shit’, as he liked to call it, meant a lot to me, but he didn’t care. And one day, I was going to make a huge name for myself, so that my dad could eat his words.

“Have you heard from your sister? I’m not sure I like that new roommate she’s living with. That girl is trouble. She’s only going to get Megan in trouble, and I’m afraid it will hurt her career. I want you to try and talk her into moving home. She’s still got a room here.”

“She doesn’t want to live with you. She’s a grown woman, and you treat her like a child. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that she hasn’t called.”

Or that Daniel took off.

“She was just upset that I brought Evangeline here to live with me. She'd still not forgiven me for the incident with your mother.”

“You cheated on her and divorced her; let’s call it what it is.”

“Yeah, well your mom moved away, and that’s not my fault. She should have stayed close.”

“We speak at least three times a week. She’s living her own life, like the rest of us. I’ll talk with Megan, but I’m not convincing her she needs to be anywhere she doesn’t want to be. I have an extra room, and she knows it’s hers if she wants it.” I wasn’t going to tell him that she’d used the extra room several times already and he sure didn’t need to know why.

The only thing my father and I agreed on was her roommate. That girl was trouble.

“Just check on Megan.” He hung up the phone.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t need his passive aggressive bullshit. I’d just lost a gold-digger with the same problem.

I needed a break more than ever, and planning a work trip out to West Texas would be a great way to clear my mind. With nothing but my camera and camping gear, I’d be able to escape. I hadn’t taken a trip to do my astral photography as often as I liked in months. Terri didn’t appreciate my hobby any more than my father did, and the only thing she wanted me taking pictures of was her; naked. She hadn’t been too pleased when I wanted to take her out to sleep in a tent and brave the wild animals and Texas-sized mosquitos to get pictures of the sky. She also didn’t want me going alone for some bullshit fear that I’d pick up a chick on the way out of town to warm my sleeping bag.

I spun around in my computer chair, still looking for the calendar and moon phases. I wanted to make sure I had everything planned out so I could leave town. The only person I’d tell I was leaving would be Megan, and I’d ask her to stay at my house while I was gone. It was a sure way to kill two birds with one stone. I’d get my rest and the images I needed for my project, and I’d know right where my sister was.

As I got up and hea

ded down to the storage closet to find my sleeping bag and tent, I thought about how I couldn’t put off finally finding a girl to settle down with, if not for the damn clause in my inheritance but for my own sanity.

Next time, I was going to find a real girl who not only loved photography but didn’t mind roughing it.

I didn’t know if she existed, but I’d sure as hell do my best to find out.

CHAPTER THREE – KAMI

Sunday mornings were for family, so Aunt Helen always cooked a big breakfast and insisted that Rain and I be around to eat it. I’d gotten up early and was ready to go down in plenty of time to help her finish cooking.

I walked into her bright living room, where the sun was shining in through the windows shadowing the couch beneath and blinding me.

Then Devin’s unsettling voice brought me around. “Morning, Kam-Kam.”

I whirled around as he sat up shirtless, clearly seeking attention. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Rain walked up behind me from the kitchen. “He was too drunk to drive home last night, and I was too tired to take him. Aunt Hel insisted he crash here.”